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Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA)
Q4 2023 Earnings Call
Feb 07, 2024, 7:30 a.m. ET

Key Highlights:

• Prepared Remarks
• Questions and Answers
• Call Participants

Riding The Waves Of Q4 2023: A Deep Dive Into Alibaba’s Earnings Call

Operator

Thank you for joining us for Alibaba Group’s December quarter 2023 results conference call, where participants dialed in to hear the latest from one of the world’s leading e-commerce and cloud computing giants.

Decoding The Dialogue:

Rob Lin — Head of Investor Relations

Welcome to Alibaba Group’s December quarter 2023 results conference call. Joining us today are Joe Tsai, chairman; Eddie Wu, chief executive officer; Toby Xu, chief financial officer. Also present is Jiang Fan, CEO of Alibaba international digital commerce group, AIDC. The webcast is available on the IR section of our corporate website, and a replay will be available later today.

Discussions may contain forward-looking statements exploring the new organization, governance structure, strategies, business plans, and future growth. These statements come with inherent risks and uncertainties, which could diverge from current expectations. For detailed discussions of these risks, please refer to our latest annual report on Form 20-F and other documents filed with the U.S. SEC or announced on the website of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Let’s now move to Eddie for a detailed look at Q4 2023.

Eddie Wu — Chief Executive Officer

Steadily forging ahead, we delivered growth in Q4 and recalibrated our approach in response to market dynamics. Introspection of our core business and competitive landscape led us to ramp up investments to sustain our competitive edge and pursue growth vigorously.

Our primary focus is reigniting growth in our core businesses, e-commerce, and cloud computing. Notably, our user-first and competitive pricing strategies in Taobao and Tmall Group (TTG) bore fruit, generating robust year-over-year growth in GMV, active buyers, and order volume. The number of merchants saw a double-digit increase, underscoring our impactful execution.

In cloud computing, we remain committed to prioritizing public cloud. Structural optimizations and increased investment in public cloud products are yielding positive results, elevating Alibaba Cloud’s overall profitability capability. Revamped sales operations and tailored service systems are set to boost customer coverage, service capabilities, and growth rate.

Internationally, our focus lay on enhancing cross-border offerings and refining the shopping experience. The quarter witnessed rapid 44% year-over-year growth in international digital commerce overall revenues. Cainiao’s global smart logistics network, alongside cross-border logistics fulfillment solutions, propelled a strong 24% year-over-year revenue growth, attesting to its seamless synergy with the cross-border e-commerce business.

Looking ahead, we are poised to invest strategically in TTG to capitalize on growth opportunities within China’s fiercely competitive e-commerce market. Despite being the undeniable leader, we recognize the need for targeted investments and improvements to fortify our competitive position.